Red RC

July 19, 2023

Kaerup adds 2WD Buggy European title to tally

Team Associated’s Marcus Kaerup is the new EFRA 2WD Buggy European Champion. The reigning 4WD Champion secured the title after an action packed triple finals in the Netherlands today that saw a different winner each leg. Starting as the Top Qualifier having topped all five rounds of qualifying Joern Neumann looked on target to reclaim the title he first won a decade ago. In A1, the Sworkz driver continued his form winning from Schamcher’s Michal Orlowski and 1:8 World Champion Davide Ongaro who got passed third place qualifier Kaerup. Looking like he was going to get the job done early in A2, Neumann was pulling away but at the 1-minute mark he hit the corner pipping with Orlowski collecting his car before taking up the lead as the German dropped to fourth. Orlowski took the lead but with 1-minute to go a mistake allowed Marcus Kaerup through for the win with Neumann just coming through for 3rd ahead of the Schumacher of Wesley Van Helmond. It was all to play for in A3 but again a mistake from Neumann ended his chances allowing Orlowski to go to the front for the win ahead Kaerup but a mistake on the penultimate lap, while not costing him the A3 win, would cost him the title. Equal on points with Kaerup, the young Dane had the faster race winning time giving him the title. Neumann would complete the overall podium ahead of Ongaro. Racers will now turn their attention to 4WD for the next three days with Kaerup aiming to be come the first double champion since David Ronnefalk in 2018.

Image: EFRA [Facebook]

July 19, 2023

Vietnam to host 2024 FEMCA 1:8 Offroad Championship

The 2024 FEMCA 1:8 Offroad Championships will take place in Vietnam with March 6-9th scheduled as the dates for the crowning of the official Champion of Asia. This year the championship returned following a forced Covid break, with Taiwan hosting the event where Ming Yang team driver Jeff Wang took the win over Xray’s young Korean talent Hyunkyu Jung. A prestigious title that counts Atsushi Hara, Kyle McBride and Shin Adachi among its past champions, 2024 is expected to attract all of Asia’s leading offroad racers and teams to Ho Chi Minh City to battle it out for the crown. Some remaining Covid travel restrictions meant a limited international entry this year, although the event still boasted an impressive 142 entries from 10 countries.

Source: FEMCA [Facebook]

July 19, 2023

MXLR A800R Front Body Support

MXLR has released this Front Body Support for the Awesomatix A800R to prevent deflection of the bodyshell under higher speeds. With the trend of feather light bodyshells and even higher top speeds, deflection of bodyshells has became an issue with top racers. The support also reduces the risk of cracking the front wheel arches of the bodyshell. The result is an extended lifetime of your bodyshells combined with better performance on the track as the shell will stay in its original shape and produce more downforce. The support is made of PA12 Nylon which is very durable and offers excellent tensile, abrasion and impact resistance. In the design process MXLR took special care about the A800R front bulkhead design and the importance of “flex” in this area with the support designed to have the least flex influence possible.

View support mounted here

July 18, 2023

JConcepts Reflex/Stalkers in A1 Compound

JConcepts have announced the release of their popular Reflex and Stalkers 1:8 Buggy tyres in Aqua A1 compound. The medium long-wear compound provides quicker response and longer wearing characteristics. The Reflex tyre is designed to bridge a gap between original and popular JConcepts tyres for ultimate performance while the Stalkers tyre was developed for surfaces which mature over time, get rough, dry and with extreme scaling to the surface.

Source: JConcepts [jconcepts.net]

July 18, 2023

Neumann holds overnight 2WD TQ at European C/Ship

Sworkz’ Joern Neumann holds the overnight TQ at the EFRA 1:10 2WD Offroad European Championship after a dominant first day of qualifying in the Netherlands. The German, who is a two time champion in 2WD, topped all three rounds of qualifying at the RACO2000 track in Utrecht but with 2 more rounds of qualifying tomorrow and the best two to count he will have to wait to see if he will be the overall Top Qualifier. Neumann’s closest challengers today were Team Associated’s Marcus Kaerup and Schumacher’s Michal Orlowki, the latter having set the pace in seeding practice. In Q1, Neumann set the pace by 6 seconds from reigning 4WD Champion Kaerup, the Dane getting that gap down to 2-seconds in Q2. Chasing his first ever 2WD European title, Orlowski would get to within half a second of the TQ in Q3 giving the Polish ace a major boost going into the final two rounds. If he or Kaerup are to deny Neumann from being the Top Qualifier they will need to top both rounds tomorrow and in a faster. Defending Champion & newly crowned British 4WD Champion Tommy Hall finds himself down in P12 at the end of Day 1 of qualifying.

Image: EFRA [Facebook]

July 18, 2023

Costa Rica seek to host 2024 1:10 Nitro Onroad Worlds

Costa Rica has presented a proposal to the World Governing Body to host the 2024 1:10 Nitro Touring Car World Championships. Coming through FAMAR, one of the four Blok members of IFMAR, the proposal to host the 10th running of the Worlds for the category has been put together by host hopefuls ADDAP. Proposing a date of 14-24th of November 2024, the race would take place at the Mini Autodromo La Cruces in Heredia, which is a 281m fine asphalt track. Earlier this year the track hosted its inaugural event, the Tico Race, which attracted a strong entry with racers travelling from 10 countries. Should Costa Rica be successful in its bid to host the 2024 World Championships, it would be the first time the championships has returned to the FAMAR Blok since Brazil hosted the inaugural 1:10 Nitro Touring Car World Championships in 2004 where Adrien Bertin took the win.

View ADDAP presentation here

July 17, 2023

Butterfield wins Summer Nitro Cup in Puerto Rico

Serpent’s Bryce Butterfield took the 1:8 Onroad win at the 2023 Summer Nitro Cup held at Barceloneta RC Speedway in Puerto Rico. The American driver was one of a number of international drivers who travelled to the Caribbean Island for the event which attract close to 100 entries. In qualifying it was Butterfield’s Nova Engines powered 990 that took the overall TQ after setting the fastest 4-minute run in the first of the four rounds of qualifying. Germany’s Thilo Diekman would set the 2nd fastest time, the Capricorn driver also producing his best run in Q1 with the Top 3 completed by the Serpent of US racer Joaquin De Soto Jnr, the later going on to beat Diekman in the Super Pole shoot out. In the 30-minute final Butterfield would lead from start to finish winning by over a lap from De Soto Jnr. Setting the fastest lap of the race, Diekman would complete the podium with Jose Colon fourth. In 1:8 GT Jose Almonte took the TQ and win with his Serpent while in 1:10 200m Jerry Guerra took the win from 5th on the grid.

Image: Serpent [serpent.com]

July 17, 2023

Philippine Masters 2024 date announced

After a massively successful return in April of this year following a 2-year break due to Covid, the Philippine Masters has announced the date for the 2024 edition of Asia’s biggest annual 1:8 Offroad race meeting. The 12th running of the Philippine Masters, the event which takes place in the capital city of Manila is scheduled for April 18-21, 2024. Having formed the opening round of the Asian Buggy Championships, the date was confirmed at Round 2 in Australia over the weekend after a meeting between Philippine Masters track designer Edward Sio, who was racing in Brisbane, and Scotty Ernst who has been a key figure in bringing the Philippine Masters to its international race status. A sell out event in 2023, the race saw World Champion David Ongaro win the Buggy title for Team Associated while Sworkz’ Micha Widmaier came away with the Truggy victory. With the Philippines famed as a holiday destination, the event has a truly unique vibe living up to the nations tourism tagline ‘It’s More Fun in the Philippines’ with many of the large international driver entry combining the race with holidays at the country’s world famous white sand beaches.

Source: Philippine Masters [philippinemastersrc.com]